G-1 League Week 1: We All G for iG

You G, Me G, We all G for iG

It's been a terrifying week in Dotaland, and no, we're not talking about the fresh hell of seeing a Drow or Centaur in your opposition's lineup. This isn't a balance issue. Well, not a balance issue IceFrog can fix, anyway. This week's most deadly stampede came courtesy of Invictus Gaming.

iG hoof stomped their way through their group, 4-0ing it in style. In fact, they look all but unstoppable as we head into Week 2. kupon3ss talks about all that and more in our recaps and previews of Group A and Group B. If you've missed a week's Dota 2 however, and have no idea what we're talking about, go grab the Games of the Week as compiled by TheEmulator.

Finally, when you're done with the VODs and clued up on what to expect in the coming week of G1, sit back and relax as ScintilliaSD takes a closer look at the support hero that is the talk of the town. Here Be Dragons is our feature of the week, and we hope you enjoy it. On your way out, make sure you grab the Week 2 Schedule. You certainly don't want to miss this week of Dota 2!

Group A - W1 Recap and W2 Preview

By Kupon3ss

Invictus Gaming solidified their dominance this week by completely crushing both MUFC and LGD. Not even the second best team in China was able to withstand iG's non-stop aggression. The country's flagship team simply outpicked and outplayed its opponents with ease. Utilizing both a more traditional 4-1 against the dark horse MUFC as a measure of safety and a style that can be best described as "hero farming" in a trio of stomps, iG this week wrapped itself in an aura of invincibility that only it can truly carry off.

Prediction:4-0-0: 12 pointsiG's remaining matches are against a ping-impaired EG and SQL, a team that's looked shaky at best despite some awkward wins. Aside from getting caught out by some giant cheese due to not having read the .76 changelog, there's no real realistic way for iG to drop a game this week.

Despite being soundly thrashed by iG, LGD put up a good show against MUFC, scoring a pair of fairly easy victories. Though they are by no means a second-tier team, this week LGD stuck to more standard strategies and yet were simply weaker than iG in overall individual skill, allowing iG to exploit gaps in their play. They now have a 5 - 16 record vs iG over the past six months. Yao's overall shaky mid performance, along with xiao8's transition to support has weakened LGD's previously rock solid laning phase. While LGD hasn't had any roster changes, it seems like they have quite a bit of fixing to do if they wishes to challenge iG for the title of best team in the world.

Prediction:3-0-1: 9 pointsEven with iG looking out of reach, LGD still towers over the other teams, their remaining matchups should hopefully allow them to recover their confidence and get used to the new metagame.

The dark horse of the tournament, MUFC has so far posted rather mediocre results. Though their showing against iG was about as poor as expected, their stalemated match against EG showed that they were not even above their peers in terms of individual skill or understanding of the current metagame. Overall they seemed like Orange[lite], with a similar playstyle but rather mediocre individual talent. While their play often has the early game aggression that so marks the SEA style, they lack the coordination to turn a situational advantage into a game winning one.

Prediction:1-1-2: 4 pointsClearly a tier below the top teams, MUFC didn't show anything that would differentiate them from EG. However, if they manage to play a similar style this week, but do so with marginally better execution, they should be able to eke out a win against FTFC.

EG's certainly been one of the more entertaining teams to watch during this tournament. From the 4 knights strategy to other "cheesy" and exciting plays, EG are the underdogs you can't help but cheer for. Their overall performance has been fairly consistent, and yet unexceptional. They squeezed out a draw against MUFC with a multi-midas Naix strat and threw their way to a draw against FTFC, atoning in part for their last meeting in the group stages. While they don't seem to be in any immediate danger of elimination, their upcoming games against the pair of dominant Chinese teams don't bode well for them. As the sole representative of the West in the G-1 league, EG has given us the exciting games, hilarious plays, and the abundance of drama we've all come to expect from them.

Prediction:0-2-2: 2 pointsWhile they've shown to be competent despite the odds being stacked against them, EG has little chance against either iG or LGD. However, given that they've already got two wins, they will likely have the chance to advance to the playoffs.

Sequential Gaming

Fumoffu's Throws Fan Club has made a name for themselves as an interesting team to watch. While the captain and the team's namesake, Fumoffu has occasionally shown flashes of brilliance, kPhonenix has been the most consistent performer with his excellent tinker play and more importantly, his position as the member of the team least likely to throw. As expected, they haven't looked particularly good in any of their games, and the only win they've managed to bag so far has has involved the other team throwing to a degree that only Fumoffu seemed capable of. Though they still have a chance against MUFC, things do look bleak for the team.

Prediction:0-1-3: 1 pointsSeeing that winning against iG an impossibility, the team's hopes will be staked on the match against MUFC. Though unlikely, part of me hopes for a draw against a MUFC, as it will allow for a three way throwfest between EG, FTFC, and MUFC. This in turn brings about the possibility of a repeat of the premlim followed by an on stream flameoff between Fumoffu and Demon, and how could we say no to that?

Group B - W1 Recap and W2 Preview

By Kupon3ss

DK vs Orange game 2 was perhaps the most evenly matched and exciting game of the group. DK still seems very much like a team in the middle of reforming whose true potential remains latent. While beating the finest selection of talent the SEA scene has ever produced through flat out outganking them is no mean feat, the fact that they soundly beat TongFu means that DK's position at the top of the group is all but guaranteed. While DK, along with the other Chinese teams, is likely to spend the weekend at WCG China playing DotA1, the fact that they've already defeated iG and LGD in the tournament shows us that they have what it takes to come back and go all the way in G1.

Orange really pulled an ace out of their hats with regards to their lineup. The big question of "Will Mushi show up?" has been answered with a resounding now, and they've managed to ship in another secret weapon in the form of Ice^3. The strongest lineup in perhaps the history of SEA DotA dominated DK in their opening game and finished strongly against Flash in a game that definitively showcased the ridiculous amount of individual talent that the SEA scene now boasts of. But the question remains whether this the team that looks amazing when it wins will lapse into the SEA curse of quickly falling apart when put into an advantage. Regardless, this star-studded lineup has a definite chance to make it to the LAN finals.

Prediction:3-1-0: 10 pointsUnless TongFu magically pullirs itself together, Orange should have little trouble finishing up the rest of the group and scoring everybody some well-deserved fantasy points with their high kill carries.

N9's two draws against the two weaker teams of the group shows that they are at least still alive. An international caliber team with a pair of standins from Orange, N9 showed their resilience and aptitude in their well crafted, lagproof lineups that relied more on general movements and teamfight instead of on individual play. The series against TongFu showcased what they are still capable of as they barely lost the first game and resoundingly took the second.

Prediction:0-2-2: 2 pointsTwo of their members are on loan from the very team they will soon face and their other opponent is none other than the reforming Chinese powerhouse headed by one of the most consistent carries in the history of DotA. Thus, it's safe to say that N9's future in this tournament looks bleak.

Flash showed that while they are worthy contenders, they're still small fry in the overall Asian scene. Their dismantling of second tier Chinese teams seemed less impressive as they faced the monstrous Orange roster and got out classed in every way. While they did look a bit stronger than N9, they were unable to bag the wins they needed to advance.

Prediction:0-1-2: 1 pointsTieing N9 has given them a reasonable chance to advance should they take advantage of TongFu's current vulnerable state. However, having a pair of elite Chinese teams to go through is hardly an easy way to wrap up the group stage.

TongFu has been the biggest surprise of the tournament. LongDD in particular seems to have added more confusion and inconsistency to an already volatile lineup. When combined with Hao's ineptitude on traditional hard carries and Mu's dissatisfaction with the Invoker nerf, the addition of chan in place of awoke seems to exacerbate the lineup issues. The team stumbled around a pair of poor games with even poorer decision making against N9 and performed even worse against DK. While Chan and LongDD are certainly improvements on paper, time is running out for TongFu. In Week 2, they will either click as a team or exit the tournament.

Prediction:1-1-2: 4 pointsTongFu seemed to look somewhat steady at WCG and the games versus DK could have been worse. Thus, especially against a rather straight forward SEA team like Flash, their individual talent should carry them through. Orange. of course, an entirely different story. The Orange we've seen over the past weak should have little trouble dispatching TongFu.

Games of the Week

By TheEmulator

Battle of the Tri-Lanes

In Game 2 of DK vs Orange, we saw Orange wielding a very aggressive trilane setup of Lina, Windrunner, and Sand King against the Venomancer, Rubik, and Brewmaster of DK. This game had a great mix of aggression and high level play, especially with regard to how DK shut down the opposition trilane early on.

Game of Throws

Jakiro, who is one of the most popular heroes thus far in G-1, proved in this game that he is quickly becoming one of the best supports in Dota 2. The match between Orange and Flash gave the The Twin Head Dragon the chance to show that he can be a game winning force with his deadly stun, Ice Path. This ended up being one of the closest games in the first week of G-1, lasting one hour and displaying multiple back and forth teamfights. It was close, but Orange came out on top at the end.

iG unstoppable?

iG were unstoppable in the first week of the G1 group stage. In game one against LGD, Zhou got to show the world his all powerful Luna, and overall, iG played a completely perfect game, leaving no room for LGD to make a comeback. If you want to see the perfect execution of a strategy by a team that really knows how to play together, then this is certainly the game you should be watching.

Here Be Dragons: An Analysis of Jakiro

By scintilliaSD

Jakiro is one of the chosen children of the 6.75 patch, blessed by a rework of a key ability. A contested hero in every match so far, he has shown up as a pick or ban in all 20 of the games in G-1 League, being banned seven times and chosen thirteen. A previously ignored hero, except for perhaps the likes of Na'Vi, this dragon has proven to be one of the most versatile and sought after supports in the game now. But what is really behind the Twin-Headed Dragon that makes him such a star?

Jakiro has extremely high base strength and strength-gain for a position 5 support, and a decent base intelligence and intelligence-gain to support it. Each of his abilities do some sort of AoE, making him an excellent team fight hero. The combined AoE of Liquid Fire and Dual Breath make him worthwhile in anti-push as well, and Liquid Fire on towers makes him an excellent offensive pusher. Two attack speed slows makes him a good anti-carry, and Ice Path is an excellent initiation spell and zoning tool. Macropyre is a fantastic team fight ultimate. All of his abilities have extremely low cooldowns. Quite simply, he's a versatile support that can fit in any lineup.

Despite his astounding popularity in this tournament, Jakiro posts a disappointing 4-9 record. Many teams have different philosophies on how to play this Two-Headed Dragon, but what seems to be the most effective way?

As a testament to the new gold changes in the 6.75 patch, Jakiro finds the most success when he can be played as a roaming initiator support rather than a babysitter. By virtue of the fact that all of his spells have significant AoE, he tends to push the lane while babysitting, which is not the optimal case for a support hero. However, the extremely long range of Ice Path combined with the significant slow and damage of Dual Breath make him an excellent roamer. In the games he has won, he has been paired with strong heroes that complement his initiation, such as the other 6.75 chosen child Batrider, the ever popular Bounty Hunter, or strong ganking mid laners like Templar Assassin and Night Stalker.

What are Jakiro's weaknesses as a hero? His aforementioned weak babysitting may be one of them. While Ice Path may be an excellent initiator in the early game, its low stun duration and unreliability makes it a much weaker defensive tool. He has a low attack range, which makes his lane presence much weaker than other supports. He is relatively level-dependent for team fight presence to ensure the longer stun duration on Ice Path, increased damage on Dual Breath and Macropyre. Jakiro's weaknesses can, and have been capitalized on by teams in the G-1 League, through heavy ganks and aggressive tri-lanes. His inability to adequately protect a carry can cause games to snowball out of control.

All-in-all, Jakiro is an amazingly popular hero for good reason, although he does have weaknesses that can be exploited. He is extremely strong with levels in four abilities that all scale well, but he suffers a potentially weak early game in order to make this happen. He has good synergy with both slows and stuns, and Macropyre is a potentially amazing team fight ultimate. I would not expect to see him wane in popularity any time soon.

G-1 League Week 2 Schedule

We have an exciting week of G-1 coming up, and we look forward to seeing you here on TL with us as we watch the games live. Here is the schedule, so you don't have to miss a single game.

On October 28 2012 04:46 MrCon wrote:I really don't agree with that game of the week (DK vs Orange), unless you want everyone to hate dota xD I'm not at all in the "chinese boring" camp, but this one was boring imo.

EG vs SQL game 1 was a better game of the week imo =)Good writeup anyway.

DK vs. Orange was pretty much the only game this week I wouldn't describe as "stompy" or "bad play".

On October 28 2012 04:46 MrCon wrote:I really don't agree with that game of the week (DK vs Orange), unless you want everyone to hate dota xD I'm not at all in the "chinese boring" camp, but this one was boring imo.

EG vs SQL game 1 was a better game of the week imo =) (the one where they smoke gank the ancient :D)Good writeup anyway.

The other games were more boring IMO. I was falling asleep watching half of the games this week zzz